Argument: Bernard Cornwell uses a common character transformation in all of his historical novels that is easily recognizable throughout. This common change in the emotional, physical and mental aspects of the characters shapes Cornwell's plots and story. Evidence: * "The plot summary I gave above will be instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Cornwell's previous work. A young male outsider of straightforward character, a series of significant battles, a love interest, a nemesis within his own camp, a gradual rise based on merit rather than influence" * "Whilst rescuing Hook from his own era in this way, Cornwell is forced to make rather simplistic moral distinctions in the novel" * "The assured construction of the scenes can become a little routine at times: when a paragraph describing a fight ends with a sword scything towards the head of a favored character, and the narrative cuts away to deal with other events, it eventually stops being a surprise that, when the narrative returns, the blow is avoided by some unusual means and the fight continues. It does keep the action going, but a device like this is subject to the law of diminishing returns." Analysis: Cornwell's continuous use of the same dynamic attributes in his characters is a defining aspect of his novels. The reader can easily notice this method in any of his books. This is partially due to Cornwell's actual life and also to the life of many people in our era.

This review, like all others, praises Cornwell for his use of real historical places and characters. Each of the Viking leaders in the Last Kingdom was derived directly from historical facts. "[Cornwell] Liberally feeds readers history and nuggets of battle data and customs". This is a very key aspect of Cornwell's writing style. On top of this, Uhtred, the main character, goes through tremendous physical, mental, and emotional change all throughout the novel. This is another very common theme in all of Cornwell's novels. He uses this dynamic character type in the story Agincourt as well. He shows that no matter what era the world is in, everyone goes through the same trials and tribulations. "Uhtred's first-person wonderment spinning all into a colorful journey of (self-) discovery." This theme applies to Cornwell's life as well. He himself went through similar predicaments to his main characters that dealt with emotional trials, loss of parents, discovering themselves, and trouble in deciding national allegiance. "This is a solid adventure by a crackling good storyteller."

Bernard Cornwell is commonly revered for his outstanding ability to capture the true essence of the time periods in which his novels take place. Boston Globe Correspondent Michael Kenney proves this to the letter. "It is Cornwell's singular accomplishment in "The Last Kingdom" to have brought forward with a solid context and constant vitality those times and conflicts." Throughout all of Cornwell's novels, Cornwell has accomplished fantastic historical accuracy while still capturing the reader's attention. Kenney continuously praises Cornwell for this amazing trait. In "The Last Kingdom", Cornwell takes on a very complex time period with very little historical documentation. The 9th century was a time full of war and savagery. What better author to tackle this era? Kenney believes Cornwell has achieved success in this monumental feat. "But the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of late ninth-century England and their fight against Danish invasions are unfamiliar, specialist territory." Bernard Cornwell is the perfect "Specialist" to conquer this unfamiliar territory and conquer it he did.